A daring adventurer set a record by walking a highline across the top of the world’s highest volcano – at an altitude of more than 22,000 ft.
Matías Grez’s scary feat earned him the record for highest elevation highline (male), with harness (ISA-verified).
His highline was established at an altitude of 6,880 m (22,572 ft) on top of Nevado Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina border in the Andes mountain range on 21 December 2022.
The 33-m-long (110-ft) line was 20 m (66 ft) above the ground.
Nevado Ojos del Salado is the highest of the Volcanic Seven Summits, making it the world's highest volcano.
The slackline walk was part of a five-month-long project for Matías and his team of Chilean athletes.
Matías, 31, who works as an adventure tourist guide, broke this record during a journey that saw him walk highlines across numerous volcanoes, filming it all for a documentary called The Eyes of the Earth, the Call of the Andes.
Matías, from Chile, and his team - Diego Troncoso and Bernardita Lira – began preparing for their journey in August 2022, moving together to San Pedro de Atacama, in the north of Chile.
“Our training consisted of doing bicycle routes, which ranged from 2,500 metres above sea level to 4,000 metres above sea level. In addition, we installed three highlines in ravines located at 3,500 metres above sea level.
“We were training in that place for a month. In parallel, we went trekking at altitude to acclimatize. Then we went to the active Lascar volcano.”
After three ascents, the team installed a 110-metre-long highline in the crater of Lascar, 5,500 m above sea level.
On 22 October, that became the first highline Matías conquered during his epic journey.
Next was Licancabur volcano and a 95-m line 5,916 m above the sea, which Matías walked across on a highline on 16 November.
After that, it was on to the Ojos del Salado area, where the team spent an entire month.
Matías told us: “We had to make two ascents to carry the equipment and prepare the anchors. In between, there were storms and we had to wait for a windless window to accomplish the mission.
“On the third ascent, we slept in the crater of the volcano at 6,700 metres above sea level, being the highest camp recorded in Chile. The next day, on 21 December, we mounted the 33-metre-long webbing at 6,800 m above sea level, joining the Argentine summit with the Chilean summit, thus achieving the highest highline in the world.”
Matías and his team use high mountain equipment in their endeavours and must be prepared to take on extreme cold and snow.
As they’re all extremely qualified and experienced, the highline itself wasn’t too dangerous, Matías said.
But one factor that did cause problems was the weather.
Matías explained: “The weather could have been risky, since it is a place with a lot of wind and thunderstorms, however, we waited a couple of weeks in the base camp until a windless day occurred to do the assembly.
“Also, if we add the elevation factor, it becomes more risky because any high altitude illness in a person can affect the entire team, which is why it was very important to take the appropriate time to acclimatize.”
But all the hard work was worth it for that record-breaking moment.
The very moment of walking the highline was very special. - Matías
“I felt a lot of happiness and gratitude to all the people who supported us to get there. I also felt a deep connection with the mountain, observing the entire crater of the volcano and the view from up there.
“It was a satisfaction where all the work and effort that had been put in throughout this project came to its climax.”
This record is monitored by the International Slackline Association (ISA).
During his journey, Matías was also helped by Moisés Castro, René García, Rodrigo Flores and Claudio Echegaray.
He said: “It was very positive to have achieved this entire project since we have been working on different highline projects for years and this time we managed to complete this entire journey that meant something much deeper for us.
“Years ago, together with my partner, we had the intention of climbing part of the volcanoes to honour the mountain, which years later we were able to achieve through this project and unite the different passions such as the love for the mountain range, the passion for balance and working the creative side of filming a documentary.”
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